


Withering

by river1983



Series: Tumblr Collections [4]
Category: Good Omens (TV), Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: Angst, Asexual Aziraphale (Good Omens), Asexual Aziraphale/Crowley (Good Omens), Asexual Character, Asexual Crowley (Good Omens), Asexual Relationship, Crowley's Fall, Fallen Angel Crowley (Good Omens), M/M, Tumblr Prompt, angsty, kind of ooc crowley?, kind of soft, one word prompt, sympathetic aziraphale
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-16
Updated: 2019-08-16
Packaged: 2020-09-02 11:55:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20275507
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/river1983/pseuds/river1983
Summary: Crowley finally tells the story fo his fall to Aziraphale.Tumblr one word prompt: withering - intended to make someone feel mortified or humiliated.





	Withering

It was a late Sunday night, a year after Armegedidnt’t, and Aziraphale and Crowley were walking back to the book shop after dinner at the Ritz. They haven’t been touched by Heaven or Hell (yet) and spent their days simply being together, enjoying the world that wasn’t destroyed. 

Crowley was listening Aziraphale talk excitedly about old books and things from over the years he had found in the back room the other day, holding a lolly they had gotten on the way. 

“–it’s fine literature, you know, Conan Doyle, his rough drafts were quite exquisite–”

Crowley smirked slightly at the angel as he continued to talk, looking at him through his tinted glasses. 

“How do you come across all of these books anyway? What, did he just give them to you?”

“No,” Aziraphale responded, “He had passed on when I acquired it. Oh, it was quite sad when he died. His tales were beloved by many.”

They reached the book shop. “After you,” Aziraphale offered. Crowley walked in, heading towards the back room and settling on the old couch.

Aziraphale walked in behind him, heading to the cabinet. “Fancy some wine?”

Crowley smirked. “Sure, angel.”

–

When Crowley and Aziraphale finally concluded the six thousand plus some years of pining and got together, nothing really_ changed_. They still bickered like an old married couple, Crowley still called Aziraphale his pet name, angel, and they still went to lunch and sat at benches in parks and just talked. There was just the added plus of small, loving touches and kisses, cuddling at the end of the day at the bookshop, and sleeping in the same bed (or rather, Aziraphale reading a book while Crowley slept sprawled onto Aziraphale). There was no need, for them, for drastic changes, for sweeping romantic gestures or being particularly sexually active. They already sort of existed as two halves of a whole, and their relationship didn’t need a change in dynamic. They just simply_ were_. It’s…ineffable.

Now, they sat in the back room of the bookshop with a glass of wine in their hands, Crowley on the couch and Aziraphale in a chair.

“Crowley?” Aziraphale asked.

“Yes, angel?”

“Excuse me for asking so bluntly, but you’ve never told me how you Fell.”

Crowley eyed the angel suspiciously. “Aziraphale, you’re not Falling, if that’s what you’re trying to ask.”

“No, dear. I know I’m not. I was just…curious as to how_ you_ did. You are not obligated to tell me, but I do have to admit I am interested.”

Crowley was uncharacteristically quiet for a while, which made Aziraphale feel guilty for asking as he sipped from his glass.

“I didn’t mean to fall, that much is true,” Crowley finally said, peeling off his glasses and staring at his glass of wine with his yellow eyes. “We never met in heaven, you and I. I wasn’t in heaven much…I was busy creating nebulas and stars, you know, filling the void.”

Aziraphale looked at Crowley as he talked, setting his glass down on the table.

“I asked too many questions. Heaven is so…dry, as you must know. It was always ‘follow orders, no questions asked’.”

Aziraphale wanted to snort, but he contained himself.

“I always asked questions,” Crowley frowned as he twirled the win in his glass. “I questioned Her plan, Her plan for the humans.”

“We all knew about Armageddon, the purpose of the Earth, the Great Plan, but I didn’t understand it. Why create Creation just to destroy it?”

Crowley’s hand tightened on the glass. “Then one day, it just_ hurt_.”

“Oh, Crowley,” Aziraphale exhaled. He reached over to grab Crowley’s hand, kissing it gently. 

“Falling isn’t quick, it seems like days of searing pain and you know nothing but the darkness that surrounds you as you fall towards the pit. Everything about you changes, from the inside out. My eyes used to be green, you know. Then they…changed.”

Aziraphale moved over to the couch, pulling the demon’s head onto his shoulder. Crowley sighed. “It burned, it_ burned._ Not only in my wings but_ inside_ as it severed the connection to the Host. It felt like I was…withering away. My wings ached so badly I wanted to tear them off, the white feathers peeling off and being replaced with black ones. It was…it sucked.” Crowley huffed, shifting in his seat.

“I don’t regret it, even if I didn’t mean to Fall. Heaven, hell, even Hell only cared about showing the other who was better, and after years on Earth it’s impossible not to be affected by humanity, by their freedom, their resilience.”

“Humanity rubs off on you after being around them for six millennia, as much as I hate to admit it.”

Crowley looked up at Aziraphale. “I probably wouldn’t have met you without them.”

Aziraphale smiled and blushed. “You sap,” He said affectionately as he kissed Crowley’s forehead. “I’m sorry.”

Crowley looked up. “Why, angel?”

“For Heaven, my…side.”

Crowley smirked slightly and kissed Aziraphale’s hand, looking at him with his cunning yet loving eyes. “We’re on our own side, angel. Don’t apologize for anything.”


End file.
